GOD shortens the time period of the tribulation.
• HE does it for the elects sake.
• The elect are GOD’s born again obedient children.
• GOD’s children are present during the tribulation.
• Satan will try to deceive the elect during the tribulation to try to get their crown of salvation.
• The elect are experiencing the tribulation even if they are sheltered and somewhat protected from it like Israel was in the land of Goshen before their delivery from Egypt.
Mark 13:19-22
“For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which GOD created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the LORD had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom HE hath chosen, HE hath shortened the days. And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.”
Jesus encouraged and WARNED:
Revelation 3:10-11
“Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
If it was not possible for us to loose our crown of salvation, then Jesus wouldn’t have said this and He wouldn’t have needed to warn of this, but He did.
GOD kept the children of Israel protected in Goshen but they were not completely removed from the situation in Egypt; they were present and they experienced what GOD did in Egypt. They saw what GOD did to the wicked who refused to believe HIM.
Exodus 11:6-7
“And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
Revelation 7:1-3
“And after these things
I saw four angels standing
on the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth,
nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
And I saw another angel
ascending from the east,
having the seal of the living GOD:
and he cried with a loud voice
to the four angels,
to whom it was given to hurt
the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth,
neither the sea,
nor the trees,
till we have sealed the servants
of our GOD in their foreheads.”
The 144,000 are defined by GOD as being HIS servants, which HE also defines as being HIS faithful obedient children. These are HIS spiritual children which makes up HIS spiritual nation of Israel.
We must believe in and have Jesus Christ in order to be GOD’s children. We also have to have Jesus Christ in order to be Abraham’s children just like GOD promised Abraham. Physical fleshly “Jews” do not meet this requirement of GOD unless they meet the spiritual requirements of covenant keeping under the New Testament; which includes Jesus Christ our only Messiah. The two sheep folds (believing Jews & believing Gentiles) were combined into one fold and one body by ONE SPIRIT. Abraham was promised that he would be the father of many nations, which means his spiritual (promised) children would come out from every nation, kindred and tongue and would be as innumerable as the stars in heaven. GOD chose to call Abraham’s spiritual children, the children of Israel; which is one spiritual nation established by GOD, not by man and not in the flesh or according to the flesh of a physical lineage. That was GOD’s whole point in promising and choosing Isaac.
Galatians 3:26-29
“For ye are all the children of GOD
BY FAITH IN Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for YE ARE ALL ONE in Christ Jesus.
And if ye be Christ’s,
then are ye ABRAHAM’S SEED,
AND HEIRS according to the promise.”
Genesis 22:17-18
“That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed SHALL ALL THE NATIONS of the earth be blessed; BECAUSE thou HAST OBEYED MY VOICE.”
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Defining “The Elect”
In Colossians chapter three, Paul was talking to born again believers who were risen again in Christ (raised from death spiritually). He calls them the elect of GOD who are in one body, the Body of Christ. He tells them it is because they are faithful believers (filled with the Holy Spirit) that they are no longer accounted by GOD as being Gentiles or Jews or of any other nation or people. The scriptures explain that we (as believing covenant keepers) have been spiritually adopted into GOD’s spiritual nation of Israel by faith in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The elect are risen with Christ.
Colossians 3:1
“If ye then be RISEN WITH Christ,
seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of GOD.”
The elect are holy and beloved.
Colossians 3:12
“Put on therefore,
as THE ELECT OF GOD, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering”
The Elect are called.
Colossians 3:15
“And let the peace of GOD rule in your hearts,
to the which also YE ARE CALLED in one body;
and be ye thankful.”
The elect are chosen.
Mark 13:20
“And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.”
The elect have the indwelling TRUTH (The Holy Spirit) inside them. The elect have the grace, mercy and peace of GOD the FATHER and HIS Son Jesus Christ, so long as they are led of the Spirit walking in truth and love (by the covenant of salvation, the gospel).
2John 1:1-3
“The elder unto THE ELECT lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
For THE TRUTH’s sake,
WHICH DWELLETH IN US,
and shall be with us for ever.
GRACE be with you, MERCY, and PEACE,
from GOD the FATHER,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of the FATHER,
IN TRUTH AND LOVE.”
The elect are GOD’s born again children who are faithfully keeping HIS covenant of salvation, who HE will gather together again. HE will do according to all HE promises us in HIS covenant. HE will gather ALL of HIS children back together again where we will live in peace from all harm and fear. Zechariah chapter 14 speaks about this as do other scriptures (Isaiah 11:9).
Matthew 24:30-31
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His ELECT from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
1Corinthians 15:51-52
“Behold, I shew you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed,
In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.”
The elect inherit eternal salvation and deliverance.
The elect inherit the promises of GOD’s covenant.
1Thessalonians 4:15-18
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of GOD: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Isaiah 65:21-25
“And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of MY people, and MINE ELECT shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for THEY ARE THE SEED OF THE BLESSED OF THE LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all MY holy mountain, saith the LORD.”